Automotive vehicles are increasingly being equipped with collision warning systems that detect and warn the driver of the vehicle of the presence of objects that pose a potential obstruction to the vehicle. Collision warning systems typically include one or more sensors, such as radar sensors, infrared sensors, and imaging sensors (cameras), for sensing the presence of an object in a coverage zone forward or rearward of the host vehicle. In addition to sensing objects forward and rearward of the vehicle, it is desirable to sense objects that may be located proximate the side of the host vehicle, particularly in a blind spot region, to warn the driver of any potential instructions, especially when changing lanes. While vehicles are typically equipped with side view mirrors for viewing a portion of the side of the host vehicle, it should be appreciated that many vehicles exhibit unviewable regions which are commonly referred to as the blind spot regions.
Detection systems have been proposed for detecting objects in a vehicle blind spot region. Some of the proposed detection systems employ auditory and/or visual warnings to indicate the presence of a detected object in the vehicle blind spot region. For example, when the turn signal in the host vehicle is activated, an auditory or visual warning may be presented to the driver of the vehicle.
Conventional visual warning systems typically include a backlit display for displaying an illuminated warning icon viewable by the host vehicle driver. As vehicles pass in and out of the blind spot region in heavy traffic, the visual icon presented on the display may become overly distractive due to excessive visual activity, which can potentially become annoying to the driver of the host vehicle. The host vehicle driver may tend to ignore the visual icon due to its overly distractive operation.
It is therefore desirable to provide for a vehicle warning system that effectively provides a warning indication to the driver of the vehicle to warn of the presence of an object in a detection zone, such as a blind spot region of the vehicle. It is further desirable to provide for a collision warning system that is not overly distractive and yet effectively presents the warning indication to the driver.